In the Blue Light

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In the Blue Light
Cover art by Out of Office
Studio album by
Paul Simon
ReleasedSeptember 7, 2018
GenrePop
Length43:52
LabelLegacy
Producer
Paul Simon chronology
Stranger to Stranger
(2016) 		In the Blue Light
(2018) 		Seven Psalms
(2023)

In the Blue Light is the fourteenth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Produced by Paul Simon and Roy Halee, it was released on September 7, 2018, through Legacy Recordings.[1] The album consists of re-recordings of lesser-known songs from Simon's catalog, often altering their original arrangements, harmonic structures, and lyrics. The songs were recorded with guests including the instrumental ensemble yMusic, guitarist Bill Frisell, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and Bryce Dessner. The album's title is a reference to the lyrics in the song "How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns" from the 1980 album One-Trick Pony.

Unreleased recordings

In an interview for CBC Radio, Simon confirmed that more songs were recorded during sessions for the album but ultimately left off the finished record.[2] Outtakes include a number of unspecified songs from You're the One and a re-recording of "The Sound of Silence" with music based on the arrangement of Simon's live version from recent years. It is unknown whether or not these recordings will be released.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The A.V. ClubB−[5]
The Guardian[6]
The Independent[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
ViceA−[9]

In the Blue Light was released to favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on eleven reviews.[3]

Dave Simpson at The Guardian gave the album four stars and said that "generally, sparser arrangements allow more space for Simon’s dazzling imagery and oblique but relevant ruminations on subjects."[6] Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club gave the album a B− and wrote, "It would be easy to get bogged down in treating Blue Light as a compare/contrast exercise, but what’s most impressive about is the way that it sounds more or less of a piece as its own record."[10] David Browne from Rolling Stone wrote that, "At its best, In the Blue Light amounts to a dream set list for devoted PaulHeads who wish he’d do entire shows of rarities."[8] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic opined that "Everything on In the Blue Light is deliberate, gentle, and subtle, placing as much emphasis on the words and melody as the instrumentation, which isn't necessarily the case with the dense original albums."[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul Simon

No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor"There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973)4:00
2."Love"You're the One (2000)4:10
3."Can't Run But"The Rhythm of the Saints (1990)3:30
4."How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns"One-Trick Pony (1980)4:30
5."Pigs, Sheep and Wolves"You're the One (2000)4:00
6."René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War"Hearts and Bones (1983)4:44
7."The Teacher"You're the One (2000)3:45
8."Darling Lorraine"You're the One (2000)7:13
9."Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy"Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)4:00
10."Questions for the Angels"So Beautiful or So What (2011)4:00
Total length:43:52

Personnel

  • Paul Simon – vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, harmonium
  • Bill Frisell – electric guitar
  • Steve Gadd – drums
  • Renaud Garcia-Fons – bass
  • Joel Wenhardt – piano
  • Nate Smith – drums
  • Jim Oblon – guitar
  • John Patitucci – bass
  • Edie Brickell – finger snaps
  • CJ Camerieri – trumpet
  • Andy Snitzer – saxophone
  • Sullivan Fortner – piano, celeste
  • Wynton Marsalis – trumpet
  • Marcus Printup – trumpet
  • Dan Block – clarinet
  • Walter Blanding – saxophone
  • Wycliffe Gordon – tuba
  • Chris Crenshaw – trombone
  • Marion Felder – drums
  • Herlin Riley – tambourine
  • Odair Assad – guitar
  • Sérgio Assad – guitar
  • Jamey Haddad – percussion
  • Vincent Nguini – electric guitar
  • Mark Stewart – acoustic guitar
  • Jack DeJohnette – drums
  • Joe Lovano – saxophone[11]

Charts

Chart performance for In the Blue Light
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 55
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[15] 91
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[16] 40
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 16
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 159
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 36
Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] 24
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21] 106
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 7
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[23] 15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 33
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 14
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 10
US Billboard 200[27] 70

References

  1. ^ Kreps, Daniel (July 12, 2018). "Paul Simon Reworks Old Favorites on New Album 'In the Blue Light'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  2. ^ "Paul Simon doesn't want to be 'a Paul Simon cover band'". CBC Radio. September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "In the Blue Light by Paul Simon". Metacritic. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "In the Blue Light – Paul Simon". AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  5. ^ Hassenger, Jesse. "The battle for baby-boomer relevance pits Paul against Paul". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (September 7, 2018). "Paul Simon: In the Blue Light review – wistful new treatments of old gems". The Guardian. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  7. ^ Pollard, Alexandra. "Paul Simon, In the Blue Light album review: Shining a light on some overlooked gems". The Independent. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  8. ^ a b Browne, David (September 6, 2018). "Review: Paul Simon Revisits Some Obscure Tunes on 'In the Blue Light'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (November 2, 2018). "Robert Christgau on Rich Krueger's Ambition and Paul Simon's Farewell". Vice. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  10. ^ Hassenger, Jesse (September 5, 2018). "The battle for baby-boomer relevance pits Paul against Paul". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  11. ^ "Paul Simon: In the Blue Light". All About Jazz. September 5, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  15. ^ "Paul Simon Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  16. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 41.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  17. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  18. ^ "Lescharts.com – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  20. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Paul Simon". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  21. ^ "Paul Simon". Oricon. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  23. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  24. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  25. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Paul Simon – In the Blue Light". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  27. ^ "Paul Simon Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 18, 2018.